ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Former professional boxer Christy Martin took the stand on Tuesday in her husband’s attempted murder trial.
Prosecutors said James Martin, 68, stabbed and shot his wife in November 2010 in Apopka after learning she was leaving him for another woman.
Christy Martin, who now goes by her maiden name of Salters, explained how she survived being beaten, stabbed and shot on Nov. 23, 2010.
Salters, who reached the pinnacle of her boxing career in the mid-1990s, said Martin was the only person who ever knocked her out.
Police said the attack happened after Salters told Martin she was leaving him and had just renewed a romantic relationship with a woman she knew in high school. However, Salters said, it was no secret and she thought she and her husband were moving forward.
“I thought we were on the same page, that I never really loved him, and he didn't really love me, so let's be for real,” Salters said.
Salters said she had just finished a phone conversation with Sherry Lusk when her husband approached her in the bedroom of their Orange County home with his hand behind his back.
“I had to lean out a little bit, and I saw a knife in his pants,” Salters said. “I said to him, ‘Are you going to kill me?' The knife was very sharp.”
Prosecutors said Martin took the knife out and stabbed Salters in her side and breast. As she struggled with Martin, Salters said, she felt a 9mm weapon. Salters said the attack continued on the floor where Martin banged her head against a dresser.
At first, Salters said, she tried to play on the defendant’s sympathies, but that didn't work.
“I said, ‘(Expletive), you cannot kill me, and I meant it,” said Salters.
But, the attack wasn't over.
“He shot me 4 inches from my heart,” said Salters.
During opening statements on Monday, prosecutors described Martin as a man who lost control.
“The defendant injured himself when he was stabbing her so hard that his hand slid down the knife stabbing her in the chest,” said Assistant State Attorney Ryan Vescio.
Prosecutors said that Salters tried to kick the defendant away, and her calf was nearly sliced in half.
Vescio said Salters watched as her husband pointed a gun at her chest and then shot her.
“Hearing the blood gurgling on the floor, Christy Martin decided to fight again and save herself,” said Vescio.
The defense claims that Salters used cocaine and suffered from paranoia. However, she claims she had quit using the drug days before the incident happened.
Salters met Martin when he became her trainer about 20 years ago.
Martin turned down a plea deal and faces life in prison if convicted.
WFTV
